Railway-switch work



(No Model.)

A, J. MOXHAM. RAILWAY SWITCH WGRK.

No. 556,896. Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

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ANDREW B GRAHAM, PMGTO-UTHO. wAsmNGTDN. D c

UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

ARTHUR .l'. MOXHAM, OF LORAIN, OHIO.

RAILWAY-SVVITCH WORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,896, dated March 24, 1896.

Application filed October 30, 1895. Serial No. 567,423. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J MoXHAn, of Lorain, county of Lorain, State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Switch Work,of which the following specification is a true and exact description, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the floor-plates used in street-railway tracks; and it consists in an improvement in forming and securing the same in place. This floor-plate is usually a piece of steel placed adjacent to the head of the rail, the top surface of it being at such dis tance below the top of the rail-head that a carwheel passing over it will be supported by it through the flange, and the tread of the wheel will be just lifted off the head of the rail. It is used where the car-wheel passes from one rail to another or where the surface of the head of the rail is not continuous, as in the case of a cross or a frog, where the wheel passes between the rail-heads forming the point and those forming the throat of the frog, or it may be used anywhere that it is desired to support the wheel by its flange.

The chief use of the floor-plate is in connection with street-railway tracks, and as the rails used in street-railways are usually provided with a laterally-extending flange or tram on the inside of the rail the customary manner of attaching these floor-plates has been to form them of such thickness that when laid upon the tram the top of the plate would be the desired distance below the top of the rail. They are then secured thereto by rivets or bolts passing through plate and tram.

In any floor-plate the use of bolts or rivets the heads of which lie in the top surface of the plate is objectionable, as the oar-wheel running over them tends to loosen them. They are also diiiicult to insert and remove after the track is laid.

I will now describe my invention by the aid of the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a general top view of a cross containing a floor-plate embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line Y Y, and Fig. 4 is a section on line Z Z, of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows a modified form of floor-plate, and Fig. 6 is a View of a floor-plate separate from the rest of the structure.

The body B of the cross is here shown formed in one integral piece; but it may be constructed of rolled rails cut and fitted together, if desired. In either case the railhead is carried through except immediately at the crossing-point, the wheel thus having a continuous bearing and not transferred from one body of metal to another, as is the case when a center plate is employed, which also embraces a portion of the head or tread surface. It is my object in this invention to avoid this transfer, and while continuing the homogeneous rail-head at the same time to provide an adjustable and removable floorplate, as before stated. To this end I form in the grooves, between theheads and guards, apocket of a depth greater than the depth of the adjoining groove, the form of which pocket is clearly shown at F in Fig. 2. In this pocket I place the floor-plate P, which is of a depth sufficient to form a riser for the Wheelfianges and of a width adapted to lie in the pocket. In the case of a frog or crossing the plate is usually X-shaped, each arm lying in the groove of one of the rails.

As a means of fastening the floor-plate F in the pocket, I form the pocket slightly longer in some parts than the plate, and when the plate is in place I insert a locking member 01' key K between the plate and the pocket. To insure the holding down of the plate, I incline the side of the plate or the pocket, or both, where the key K is inserted, so that when the wedge is in place the plate is securely dovetailed in the pocket. The key K may be made in one ormore pieces, as desired, and if the aperture between the plate and the side of the pocket be larger at the top than the bottom and the key slightly wedge-shaped it will tend to clamp the plate tightly in place. This key may be made of hard wood or of metal, as iron or steel, and one or more of them may be placed at different parts of the plate. In Fig. l I have shown akey applied to the end of each arm of the plate, while in Fig. 5 I have shown a key applied to the side.

Beneath the floor-plate F are shown liners L. LWhen the plate becomes worn down, the key K may be removed and the plate lifted out, the recesses 7 providing a space for the insertion of; a hook or bar. The plate may then be taken out and its top surface trued up. By ii'iserting liners beneath it it may be brought to the proper level and there keyed again.

By making the floor-plate as deep as shown the weight of the same can be such that it will be a substantial aid in maintaining it in position, and its depth of side contacts against the respective walls of the pocket aids inaterially in retaining it without liability to be moved out of place should the keys become loose. The holes h provide an escape for any water that may seep into the pocket.

While I have shown and described. this invention as applied to a cross or frog, it will be understood that it is equally applicable to railway-switch pieces in general.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Pat- ARTHUR J. HOXI'IAM. \Vitn esses:

A. J. BRYAN, D. BRYAN. 

